Saving Percy
by sweettppea
Summary: He wanted to stay but everyone knows you can't always get what you want. [I do not own the Percy Jackson series. All the characters and settings belong to Rick Riordan]
1. Prologue

It wasn't that he didn't love her.

It wasn't that he was betrayed.

It wasn't that he was depressed.

It was that he couldn't live with the guilt.

There wasn't an explanation to his guilt. It wasn't even his fault. Technically, it wasn't the Gods fault either. They were forbidden to meddle with their children's life and therefore could not do anything about it themselves.

The Greek and Roman campers could have done something to stop it from happening yet chose not to. The issue had been raised at a meeting once and there had been a vote but it was dismissed after there were not enough in favour of helping. The hero of the two camps had tried to argue, insisting that it was a problem that needed fixing, even if there were few that would do something about it.

They still wouldn't listen.

He fought until some campers dragged him out of the room and calmed him down. After that, he refused to come to any of the meetings. Quite a lot of the campers started to lose their respect of him. Some began to think that he was overreacting and thought he should get over his 'petty issue.'

So he decided to do something about it.

He went to the one person who had agreed with him during the meeting. A boy who was a few years younger than him but just as mature as himself. The two met late at night in the forest beside the camp.

The older boy tried to convince him to come with him and after many minutes of arguing, he finally agreed with one condition. That he could ask another person to know, and that he could come and go as he pleased.

The older boy made them both swear on the River Styx that if the boy and his friend did not agree with his terms or did not want to stay with him after they left, then the could return but could not speak a word of where they had been and what they had been doing.

A few days later, they decided to disobey their leaders.

A few days later, they left the camps.

A few days later, they disappeared.


	2. Chapter I

"Will you please hurry up? We promised Percy we'd only be gone about a week and already it's been two. We need to get back now," Nico stood outside the Apollo cabin, yelling in towards Will. He was packing a small bag of supplies with food, ambrosia and nectar and a few sets of clothes.

"Nico!" Will stepped out, slapping his arm slightly. "Don't talk about it out in the open. No one is meant to know what we're doing."

Nico sighed and leant back against the outer wall of the Apollo cabin. He had already checked to see if any campers were around but the only people that seemed close were the campers in the cabins next to them. People thought Percy was gone. Not dead, just missing, perhaps captured by the enemy. Truth be told, Will and Nico knew he was absolutely fine.

About two years ago the satyrs were having problems getting demigods to the camp safely. Many campers were getting killed before satyrs could find them or would die along with their satyr on their way to one of the two camps, Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. It was becoming a big issue for not only the demigods, but the gods. Their children dying would take a toll on themselves, causing large pains for them and it left them powerless for a short time.

Percy Jackson, the most powerful of the seven, had tried to suggest a solution to the problem a few years back during a meeting between the leaders of Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood. He thought that if instead of just having satyrs go bring demigods to the camp, they send a satyr and a few demigods. That way the chance of them getting back was much higher. Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, the first praetor of New Rome had agreed as well as Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez and Nico Di Angelo. Unfortunately, that was not enough to make it happen. The rest of the seven - Jason Grace, Annabeth Chase, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Chiron, the leader of Camp Half-Blood and Rachel Elizabeth-Dare had all disagreed, believing that it would cause more demigods to die.

Percy blew up, enraged at the thought that they didn't believe that demigods were strong enough to save others just like them. He yelled his throat raw, not even caring if he sounded like a child throwing a tantrum over not getting his way. Eventually, Nico and Hazel had to take him out and left Leo and Reyna to try and get them to listen.

Percy had been quiet the next week, barely talking to anyone. Annabeth had tried to talk to him but whenever she went up to him, he always seemed to have either Leo, Hazel or Nico with him. Reyna had to leave Camp Half-Blood after the meeting, as well as Frank because there had been some issues at Camp Jupiter that they had to go attend to.

It was after that week that Percy had disappeared from camp.

"Okay!" Will jumped out of the cabin, his bag hooked over his shoulder. A wide grin was spread across his face. "Let's go see him!"

Nico rolled his eyes at Will's excitement. "Yeah, well get that smile off your face because we have to go see Chiron and Annabeth before we leave. We're supposed to be upset he's gone."

Annabeth had been taken charge at Camp Half-Blood last year when they needed a head camper. It was going to be either her or Jason, but it was decided Annabeth as Jason was originally a Roman demigod.

Will and Nico headed towards the Big House, Will trying to make a serious expression with Nico judging whether it would be good enough to fool Annabeth. Nico himself was rather good at it but with Will's bubbly personality, it was a pretty difficult task.

Nico treaded up the steps of the porch, Chiron playing card games with the invisible players and Annabeth lying with her head planted into her arms. Nico cleared his throat.

"Will and I are going out to look for Percy," He stated, seeing Will nod at the corner of his eye. "We told you earlier but we just wanted to check that it would be okay."

Annabeth looked at them. Her face was expressionless. "Nico, I don't think you should go." She said, sitting up a little straighter so she could see him properly. Nico frowned at her in confusion. She had been his girlfriend, the two had practically been inseparable.

"What?" He asked. He looked over to see Will looking a little shocked. Chiron had put down his cards and turned to listen to the conversation.

"I don't think you should bother anymore," She tapped her fingers absentmindedly on the table. "He's been missing for over two years now. I just don't think it's worth it anymore. Honestly, you'd have more luck trying to find the man with the fiery eyes that delivers new campers."

Her voice sounded a little strained as she said it and she didn't show any emotion on her face though. Nico tried to control his anger.

"Well, if you think he's a lost cause than have fun," He growled at her, "I don't care what you think. I still believe he's out there somewhere, and he has to be because his soul isn't in the underworld yet. If he was dead, I would know."

Nico turned, absolutely furious. He began to Will scurried behind him, giving a small nervous smile and wave to the and Chiron. He couldn't believe Percy could love someone like her. She had given up hope on ever seeing him again, and even though Percy may not have had any plans on returning soon, he was still alive.

Will and him left the camp in silence, only to be interrupted as they made their way down the hill.

"Nico, wait!" Nico continued to walk, ignoring the voice as he thought it would be someone else who didn't believe in Percy anymore until Will grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He looked up to see Leo, his hands holding a few tools and bits of his hair on fire.

"Are you going to see him?" He called down, a smile dancing across his lips. Nico nodded mutely.

"Give me ten minutes!" Was all he said before scuttling away, stuffing the tools he had been holding into his belt. Nico sighed frustratedly before plopping himself onto the grass.

Looks like they were going to be meeting Percy later than they planned.

A raven haired male sat with two small children around a small fire, the flames dancing and spreading heat between the three of them.

"So what's your names?" The older male asked in a gentle voice. They sat opposite him on the cool grass, holding hands.

"I'm Molly," The girl said. She had dark blue eyes that sparkled gently in the fire and short dark brown hair that curled up around her neck. "This is Jasper." He was a nimble boy with brown ragged hair and had a pair of goggles sitting on his head.

"What is your name, sir?" Molly asked, her head cocking to the side. The man laughed slightly.

"Please don't call me sir. I'm only twenty two, and definitely not ready for that word," He explained. He threw another stick into the fire that was dying down.

"Really?" Jasper spoke up for the first time. The man was honestly surprised that they thought he was quite old. Though, after living out on the streets for a while he had earned himself a few scars and he hadn't showered for a few days. He was going to shower at one of the public showers down in the city until he ran into the two kids.

"Yeah," He replied, smiling softly.

"Oh." Was all Jasper said.

"Why are you out here anyway?" Molly asked. She seemed to be more curious than Jasper, and also a little more chatty.

"Well, something happened a few years back and I've been out here for a while now." He wasn't lying, though he wasn't exactly telling the truth. He had stayed for a month back at the Roman camp when he was stabbed. That was about three months ago, and thankfully no one had known he was there except for Reyna, Nico, Will, Hazel and Leo. He had to leave earlier than expected when a few of the Greek campers had come to stay for a while, such as Annabeth, Jason and Piper. He knew with all of the seven being close it was a bad idea to stay and any of them could accidentally wander into where he was staying and catch him.

"What happened?" Molly said.

"Well, people were getting hurt," He answered, looking down and playing with his hands, "People like you were getting hurt. No one was doing anything about it and so I left to go and help them."

The two stayed silent.

"I think it's time for bed." The man stated, standing up from the ground. He turned and shuffled through one of his bags, looking for some blankets.

"But it's not that late, is it?" Jasper said.

"No, but we're going somewhere tomorrow and we'll be walking most of the day so you've got to be ready," He replied, "So, sleep time."

Jasper groaned softly, just loud enough for the man to hear. The man laughed, running over to Jasper and picking him up and throwing the kid over his shoulder. Jasper yelped, gripping onto the man's shirt tightly.

"Put me down, mister!" He yelled as the man began to lay out the blankets with one hand. It was proving to be much harder than he thought he would be.

"Not until you promise you'll sleep without whinging ever again!"

"But I don't want to sleep!" Molly started giggling behind the fire. The man turned to her, smiling.

"Do you want to be picked up too?" Her eyes widened slightly as she shook her head violently.

"No thanks, mister!" She got up running over to the blankets and laying down and closing her eyes. She began to pretend she was snoring. The man lay Jasper onto the blankets who stared at him with wide eyes, but a small smile was on his face. The man ruffled his hair.

"Goodnight you two. Have a good sleep."

Morning came faster than expected and the three began their travels.

The man had two bags, a backpack and small shoulder bag and he held hands with the two kids as he walked, Molly on one hand and Jasper on the other. He slipped them on, stuffing the blankets in them and began to walk out of the small forest with the two kids. They reached the city quickly and went to go get breakfast from a diner.

Molly jumped at the sound of food, dragging the man and Jasper inside and sitting them at a table. She wriggled in her seat excitedly, looking forward to the food. Obviously, she had ADHD.

The man picked up a menu and read it to them, guessing that they had dyslexia just as him, though after a few years he had managed to get better at reading and understood most sentences. Besides, the two of them were only around seven. They wouldn't be able to read it well anyway.

"Would you two like pancakes?" Molly nodded her head furiously whereas Jasper only gave a small nod. He got up, placing the menu onto the table and headed over to order. There was a small line and he stood behind a boy wearing a black jumper over what was probably a purple shirt and held crutches in his hands and a girl with blonde hair pulling into a loose ponytail. They were talking softly between each other.

"Where the hell are they?" She exclaimed, clearly frustrated. "We went to their house, their school, everywhere they had a chance of being and they aren't there!"

"Be quiet!" The boy hushed her, "You're making it sound like we're looking for people we captured or something."

"Right now the only thing we have to do is find them and we've already failed at that," she murmured, her voice much softer this time. "That Grover guy is gonna be mad at you, and Reyna will probably kill me for going with you and not even finding them."

The man's head snapped up. Reyna? Grover?

"There was no way I was gonna find Molly and Jasper by myself. I'm so weak that they'd die with me." The boy remarked. By now the man had figured out he was a satyr, the crutches giving it away.

The man glanced over at the two kids sitting at the booth. He had to give them to these two kids before they left. He pulled his hoodie up, covering his face so the two wouldn't be able to see who he was and went over to the kids.

"Mister?" Jasper looked up, confused at why he had come over when he hadn't ordered.

"Give me a second," He said. He searched through his backpack and grabbed a notebook and pen. He quickly scribbled down a message and folded it. He handed it to Molly.

"I need you two to go over to the two people over there, the blonde girl and the boy with the crutches, and give them this note," He explained. "I want you to stay with them and they'll take you to the safe place instead, okay?" Jasper looked at him, his eyes wide.

"But I want you to take us." He said softly, his voice shaking. The man clenched his fist. He pulled them out of the booth, and wrapped them in a hug.

"I would, but these people need to take you or they'll get into trouble, okay?" He said, wrapping his arms around the two.

"Okay," Molly said, clearly trying to help the man. Jasper looked extremely upset and wouldn't leave unless Molly said it was okay. The man could tell after just a night with them that they were extremely close and if one did something, the other would do it too.

The man let go of the children and turned to go until he felt a hand tugging on the bottom of his jumper.

"Mister," Jasper said, watching him carefully, "What is your name?" The man turned kneeling so he was eye level with the boy.

"Tell you what, next time we see each other I'll tell you."

"Okay!"

Unbeknownst to Jasper and Molly, the chances of them meeting once again were very slim.

Eryn turned to the satyr beside her, sighing in frustration.

She was going to be so dead when they got back unless they found those kids. She hadn't asked either of the praetors for permission so if they came back with no kids she was positively dead.

Eryn was pulled out of her thoughts when a small girl with curly hair and a young boy with ragged hair stood in front of them.

"Miss? We have a message for you." She held out a piece of paper in her hand. "My name's Molly, and this is Jasper."

These were the kids! But how did they find her? She hesitantly grabbed the paper and unfolded it, Micky leaning over to see what it read.

 _Please deliver them to Camp Jupiter safely._

 _Thank you._

Eryn was speechless. She looked back down at the kids, shock written all over her face.

"Who told you to give this to you?" Molly turned pointing outside the window.

"That man."

Eryn turned towards the window towards where Jasper had pointed. A teenager stood there, long raven black hair hanging over his forehead and fiery red eyes that stared back at them.

He turned and ran when her ice-blue eyes met his fire-red ones.

"Micky," Eryn's eyes were wide, "We need to get back to camp. Now."

A/N

hey hey hey friends chapter one is done woo

i'm sick right now ew

how are all of you? most likely better than what i'm doing. with the three assignments i have left and the two exams but i shall prevail !

bye for now guys xx

 _sweettppea_


	3. Chapter II

**~ NOT EDITED ~**

"Just so you two know, Nico nearly left without you."

Will explained to an out-of-breath Leo and a Hazel who was sorting through her quickly-thrown-together bag. Hazel glanced apologetically at Nico whereas Leo simply grinned at him.

"Sorry Neeks!" Leo grinned happily. Nico glared at him as to which Leo replied with a thumbs up.

"I'm seriously considering booting him out of the taxi." Nico grumbled. Will laughed nervously.

"Let's not get to harsh," Will interrupted with a calm voice, tapping Nico's leg in a friendly manner. He had made the smart decision to sit between Leo and Nico, whereas Hazel had sat at the front of the taxi. Maybe it would have been better if Nico sat there instead. He would have more of a struggle strangling Leo if he got to it.

"Anyway," Hazel started, "Where is Percy anyway? I haven't seen him for about two months now."

"I saw him at the beginning of the month but he didn't say anything about it then." Leo answered. He was sorting through his tool belt, probably trying to find something to fiddle with in the cramped car that bothered his ADHD.

"I called him this morning dimwits." Nico rolled his eyes, "He was with some kids and he said he'd meet us tonight in front of the apartment block his mum lives in."

"Isn't it a little risky for us to meet there?" Will asked. Considering that Sally or Paul could leave that apartment at anytime, they could see Percy and the other demigods which would be a bit of a problem.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Hazel reassured them, giving them a small smile.

..:..:..

Eryn and Micky stood in front of Reyna and Frank, Eryn slightly nervous that she might get in trouble for leaving but more so about the man she had seen today. Considering he had never been seen before by anyone but young campers and Eryn was nearly seventeen, she was the oldest camper who had ever seen him.

"So Micky was out finding these kids," She said motioning to Molly and Jasper, "And you went with him."

Eryn nodded mutely.

"Okay," Reyna sighed, "It's fine as you did bring them back safely. More importantly, weren't you supposed to be telling Frank and I something important?"

"Um, yeah," Eryn stuttered. "We didn't actually find the kids. They were given to us."

Reyna raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"By who?" Frank asked curiously.

"By the fiery eyed man."

"What? You saw him?" Frank looked shocked, but for some strange reason, Reyna looked a little worried. Possibly because this was the first time anyone had seen him.

"Yeah," Eryn replied, shifting her wright nervously under their stares. "We were at a diner getting food and they came up to us. The man was outside looking at us but ran when we saw him."

"Did you try to follow him?" Reyna watched them intensely.

"No. He was gone to soon." Reyna leaned back in her chair, looking almost... relieved?

"Okay. I'll make sure to contact Chiron or Annabeth about this later. We may need you to come back at some point. Thank you." Reyna dismissed the two, excluding the two kids who sat on some chairs to the side of the office. Frank got up, walking over to kneel in front of them.

"So you're names are Jasper and Molly, right?" The girl nodded mutely.

"Did you find out the man's name or did he say anything about himself?" Frank asked. The two looked extremely nervous and the boy looked like he wanted to be anywhere but that seat. He wasn't really sure what he could do to ease their nerves. Giving them lollipops would just make it seem like he was treating them like four year olds.

"No."

Frank sighed, running one of his hands through his hair. There was no way he was going to get these two to talk, no matter how hard he tried.

"Okay. Reyna, can you go and get Dakota? I'll let him take these two to show them around." Reyna stood up without a word and left the room. She seemed reluctant to leave him alone with the kids but still left. The room was silent for a minute, until Molly looked up at Frank.

"Sir, we did ask the man his name at one point," Frank's head shot up, his attention focused on the little girl. "We also asked why he was by himself.

"He didn't tell us what his name was, but he did say the next time he met he would tell us," Frank knew that would never happen. The man seemed to say that to many of the people he saved and none of them had managed to find him again. The man had appeared three years ago out of nowhere and start rescuing younger demigods and delivering them to the camp. He would leave them with a message to give to someone at either Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood, stating to look after them. There never was anything else on the messages.

"But," Frank listened intently, wanting any information on this man he could get. "He said that he was out there because there were people like us getting hurt who needed help so he left his home to help them."

"Did he say anything else?"

"No."

The door creaked open. Dakota poked his head open, smiling at the two kids.

"Hey you two!" He grinned brightly, flashing his teeth. He held a bottle of Kool-Aid in one of his hands and his lips were stained a bright red. "Let's go, okay?" The kids left quietly, Molly giving Frank a small wave. Reyna came in when they left, shutting the door behind her.

"Did they say anything?"

"The usual about how he didn't tell them his name and said next time we meet," He explained, "Though, this time he told them what happened to him."

Reyna's full attention was thrown at him. "He had to leave his home because people like them were getting hurt." Her expression was hard to read. She looked slightly worried, yet curious but at the same time slightly confused.

"So, it looks like we have some information on who this guy might actually be for the first time in three years."

..:..:..

The four teenagers had wandered into a small cafe. It wasn't very late in the afternoon, meaning Percy wouldn't be meeting with them for another hour yet. They sat down at a table in the cafe, ordered drinks and began to talk about what they should do next.

"Has anyone talked to Reyna lately?" Leo asked, playing with a small contraption in his hands made of lots of different strings. He had tried to order a caramel coffee but after much begging from Nico, didn't end up getting one, or a drink at all.

"I did," Hazel spoke up, "She said the last time she saw Percy was when her and Frank were travelling to Camp Half-Blood together with a few other centurions."

"Of course he would think it was a great idea to visit her when she's surrounded by people who he's trying to avoid." Nico rolled his eyes. Will elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to yelp slightly and sent a silent death threat to the blonde boy.

"Anyway," Will interrupted before Nico tried to kill him, "What did she say about him?"

"Nothing much," Hazel shrugged lightly. "He apparently just said hello and thanked her again for taking him in when he was shot in the shoulder.

"She said that Frank nearly caught the two of them talking but she passed him off as a guy who just was asking her for directions. Reyna was always good with excuses like that."

Nico made some hum of agreement before standing up and walking away.

"What the heck?" Leo exclaimed. "Did he ditch us already?"

"No, Leo. For Hades' sake, can you not see him walking towards the bathroom?" Hazel sighed, resting her head onto her palm.

"Well he didn't say anything and he was all moody!"

"He's always like that," Will cut in, "You get used to it after a while."

The table was silent for a moment.

"Have any of you talked to Annabeth lately?" Hazel asked quietly. They all knew that since Percy left she seemed to be less... well, happy. She was never early to meetings like she used to be, instead arriving just before they started and she spent more time in her cabin than usual. She had started improving in the past few months, her behaviour improving little by little but everyone knew she still wanted Percy back. Of course the five who knew he was still alive wanted to tell her but that would be breaking the promise they made to him.

"Actually, Nico and I talked to her just before we left." Leo and Hazel immediately knew something was wrong when they saw his face. The normal light that was in his eyes had dulled slightly and a smile wasn't present on his face. "I think she's given up on finding him. She said it would be a waste for us to try and find him just before we left.

Leo and Hazel were silent. They didn't realise just how bad it actually was for her. Obviously they knew just how much Annabeth loved Percy and how much Percy loved Annabeth, but she must have just found that it would be easier to forget about him to continue thinking about him.

The group were quiet for a moment, until a hand slapped down on the table. Nico stood there with a grave expression on his face.

"Percy screwed up."

..:..:..

"What is so important that you must disturb my peaceful sleep, Frank?" Jason mumbled. He had been asleep until a few minutes ago when Frank had sent him an Iris message. Normally he would have been awake as it was the middle of the day but he went to bed late last night sorting out different camp activities.

"Uh- sorry about waking you up, but all of the seven need to come to Camp Jupiter." Frank answered, his voice apologetic yet urgent. Jason pushed himself up onto his elbows sluggishly and looked at Frank through the Iris message.

"What happened?" He asked, focusing on Frank. "Also, Leo and Hazel aren't here. They left yesterday with Nico and Will on another Percy Hunt."

"See if you can get in contact with them soon, mind you, I think Reyna called Nico so I'm not sure whether you'll need to." He answered. "Anyway, a satyr and a demigod were out looking for some demigods and they saw the man with fiery eyes." Jason's head turned sharply, his eyes wide and full of shock.

"Are you serious?" Jason was in complete and utter shock. No one, other than the campers who had come to camp with him, had seen the man before. He seemed to always vanish in thin air before people could catch him. They had sent out three demigods who had all been brought to camp by him to find him one day and bring him back but the three of them had no luck even after being gone for nearly two months.

"Dead serious. We need you, Annabeth, Piper and Rachel here now." Frank ran a hand through his black hair, flattening it. "Tell Chiron what happened. We'll see you soon."

The light from the message disappeared. All that remained where the message had been was a small puddle of water. Jason grunted, getting himself out of the soft mattress.

He couldn't believe that someone had actually seen this man. He always was cautious and never left any trace of where he had been anywhere. The only thing people knew was that he had fiery red eyes. A child had once described them flames that danced, a beautiful array of reds, oranges and yellows that shone in the light.

The only thing they knew about this man was that he delivered demigods to camp without any help. Whether it was a few kids at a time or just one kid, he always delivered them safely. There had been a camper once that saw him delivering a kid, only because they had been chased by a hellhound but they never managed to see his face. They tried to chase after him but he escaped into the forest and wasn't seen again.

Jason slipped on one of the orange camp t-shirts and some denim jeans. It was mid autumn and the weather was getting quite cool, so he also grabbed a jacket and left the Zeus cabin.

He jogged over to the Big House, glancing at the campers who were around him. The rock climbing wall had a few campers on it, one hanging onto it by one hand after a handhold had lit up so they had no where to hold. Quite a large number were training with swords and fighting with each other. He could see the Stoll brothers and Katie in charge, running different training routines. A few Apollo kids that Will left in charge were instructing the campers practicing archery, demonstrating different kinds of shooting techniques.

"Jason!" A voice called from behind him. He turned to see Piper running towards him as she put on a brown wooly cardigan. She smiled warmly at him.

"Hey Pipes," He said, opening his arms out. She ran into them, knocking him back a bit from the force. She laughed and grinned up at him. Her kaleidoscope eyes shined in the light, watching him with joy.

"What are you doing?" She asked grabbing one of his hands and pulling away.

"Heading to the Big House," He answered, "I got an Iris message from Frank."

"Really? He never calls," They began to walk towards the Big House, hand in hand. She looked up at him. "Did something happen or...?" She trailed off.

"Yeah, actually. Apparently a satyr and a roman camper saw the fiery-eyed man." Piper's head flicked towards him, her hair spinning around along with her head. The news would obviously come as a shock to everyone so it wasn't surprising when she freaked out.

"But... but I thought he was really sneaky or something," Piper replied, "Well, uh, I meant he's careful about whether people see him."

"Well Pipes, he isn't as sneaky or something as we thought him to be," Jason replied, a smile dancing across his lips. Piper frowned at him playfully. He loved it when she did that.

They walked up the steps that lead to the porch on the Big House, the wood creaking slightly under their weight. No one was sitting out the front which was strange, considering there was always at least one camper there or normally Chiron.

Jason knocked onto the dark oak door, letting his hand slip from Piper's grip. They waited in silence until a few soft footsteps could be heard. The door creaked open to show Annabeth, her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail on the verge of falling out and bags under her eyes. She had a pen pushed into her hair and was holding a clipboard with a few pages in it. She looked at them sleepily.

"What's up?" She muttered, moving out of the way so they could come in. Piper seemed absolutely horrified at Annabeth's poor appearance and instead of getting onto the actual issue and letting her boyfriend speak, she immediately started to scold her friend.

"Why haven't you slept?" Piper demanded, her face pulled into a tight frown and her eyes not as happy as they had been a few minutes prior. Annabeth seemed a little confused at Piper's outburst.

"I was sorting out some stuff for Chiron," She responded. She stared at Piper for a second before Piper snapped at her.

"That's what you say every time but I know Chiron never asks for help!" Piper exclaimed, her hands curling into fists. "I want the truth Annabeth. Why are you constantly refusing to sleep?!"

Annabeth looked upset for a moment until her stormy grey eyes hardened and set themselves onto Piper, glaring coldly at her. Jason thought she was going to kill Piper until Chiron thankfully interrupted, trotting into the room with some glasses sitting on his nose.

"What's going on here?" He announced, looking between the two fighting girls. He gave a Jason a small smile.

"Nothing, Chiron," Annabeth smiled at him, the hatred suddenly gone from her eyes. Jason took a quick glance at Piper, noticing relief in her eyes. He felt her petite hand wrap around his own and squeeze.

"Actually Chiron, we have some information from Camp Jupiter for you."

A/N

chapter 2 is done! (actually it was prewritten whoops)

updates won't normally be this fast, mostly just once or twice a fortnight, perhaps maybe longer. it just depends on how busy i am :)

it helps that i had a virus so i've had four days off school this week which has been great(ish)

all favourites, follows and reviews are appreciated!

 _sweettppea_


	4. Chapter III

~ NOT EDITED ~

Annabeth stared out of the van's window.

The greens and browns of nature blurred together as they sped down the highway. The sun was beaming into the window, slightly heating up the van. Annabeth pulled her legs up onto the seat and rested her head onto her knees.

Her, along with Jason and Piper were on their way to Camp Jupiter. After receiving a message from Frank concerning the fiery-eyed man, they began to pack and get ready to leave for the camp. She didn't even want to go to Camp Jupiter. The last time she went Reyna had been acting a little distant and she wasn't very close with Frank. Piper had spent a lot of the time with Reyna, as did Jason, and Hazel and Leo kept disappearing. It wasn't her favourite trip there.

It would have been better if Percy were there. He always used to make her laugh, whether by his stupid comments or just his lopsided grin, she would be in fits of giggles with him. She knew it was partly her fault that he was gone, but no one knew about that. At least, she didn't think anyone did. She leaned back in the seat, closing her eyes sleepily. Last night when she decided to stay up, she knew it would take a toll on her the next day but still did it anyway.

Annabeth didn't sleep much anymore. She had dreams after Percy left, bad dreams. She was scared to sleep, terrified of what her dreams would hold every night. The dreams first started a week after Percy left. They weren't bad at first, just showing him in forests or in the city. She didn't know where, but she could see that he was alive and that was all she cared about.

She dreamed about him for the next few weeks, sometimes with other people. She couldn't tell who they were, yet they seemed oddly familiar to her. It wasn't until two months later when the dreams got worse. It was showing Percy being attacked by all kinds of monsters, dracaene, hellhounds and even venti.

She hated going to sleep. She was forced to watch him in pain, fighting alone and struggling to survive. She stopped sleeping around that time, instead staying up most of the night to study architecture and different structures to keep her mind of Percy.

The dreams eventually left after a few months and she hadn't had any since then, until a about a week ago. She didn't even know why they came back around this time. She cursed that whatever or whoever had caused them to come back that they go die in a hole.

The first dream she had dreamt of Percy was strange. For some reason she never saw his face. She couldn't see what he looked like but she knew it was him. How she knew, she wasn't sure. It was like some force had planted that knowledge in her brain but didn't allow her to see him.

He was walking through the streets of New York with Nico and Leo. He wore black clothes - black jeans, black hoodie, black converse. It was like he was trying to hide himself in the crowd but he just stood out in the coloured clothes of the crowd. They were deep in a conversation.

"Do you ever plan on going back to camp?" Leo asked as they wandered down the busy street. "It's really boring being the only funny one there."

Nico elbowed him in the ribs. Percy smiled at the two of them.

"I doubt it," He started as he stuck his hands into his pockets. "I mean, I want to go back but I know that they won't ever let me leave again, even though it made a massive impact on campers arriving when I left."

"So what if another war were to start?" Nico questioned. Percy stopped walking, looking down at the ground. He was silent for a minute before turning and looking Nico dead in the eye. His eye's were dark.

"I'd have to come back and fight." Was all he said before he continued walking, leaving the two startled teenagers behind him.

Annabeth had woken up then. She shivered at the memory of Percy's eyes. They were dark and held pain, almost as if he had seen death over and over again and had no way to stop it every time.

The weirdest part was that his eyes, while they still had sea green in them, there was a bright fire dancing in them. It didn't hide the green but unless you looked closely, you couldn't see it.

Annabeth was brought out of her thoughts when Argus stopped the van in front of an apartment block. They were in Manhattan and taking a small stop to see Sally and Paul before they continued to Camp Jupiter.

When Percy first disappeared Annabeth had started visiting Sally frequently, just as she had when he had been taken by Hera to Camp Jupiter. Sally had become a second mother to her, always letting her stay for as long as she wanted and treating her like a mother would her daughter. They grew closer when Percy disappeared for the second time and eventually Annabeth started making monthly visits to the apartment she shared with her husband.

When Percy had vanished again it both hit them hard. Sally had tried to stay optimistic, saying that maybe one of the Gods had whizzed him off to another camp they didn't know about and that he would return soon but after a year, she began to realise that maybe he wasn't coming back this time, that maybe he really did disappear and this time he wouldn't return.

Annabeth climbed out of the van, still a bit lost in her thoughts. She heard Jason and Piper getting out of the back and proceeded to wait in front of the stairs to the entrance for them. Piper still appeared to be angry at her whereas Jason didn't look as furious every time he looked at her but it didn't mean he wasn't still mad about it.

The trio walked into the building in silence, Piper and Jason trailing behind Annabeth who took the lead with a steady pace. She didn't want Piper and Jason to come in but after their fight earlier she figured it would be best to just let them come in. She could ask just stay with Sally in the kitchen while they stayed in the living room with Paul, if he was home of course.

Annabeth hadn't even meant to get angry. In all honesty she felt terrible about it but her pride was too high to fall in line and apologise to Piper. She figured it out while she was packing for Camp Jupiter that she was jealous of Piper. Piper had never lost Jason for long periods of time, at least without having an idea of where he was and what he was doing, even who he was with. She never had suffered through losing him in unknown circumstances but this was the second time that it had happened to her, and this time it wasn't the God's fault.

It also hurt her to know that it was entirely her fault and she couldn't do anything about it.

..:..:..

Leo was surprised when he found out Percy had been seen by campers.

It was the first time in three years that he had been seen campers that weren't any of the five that knew about his little holiday, well, six if the goddess counted. He wasn't the only one a little shocked by him being seen. Nico's face was all flushed, mind you, that could be because Reyna sent him an Iris message while he was in the bathroom, Hazel's normally happy and calm face had been bent into a confused frown but Will still had his bubbly smile dancing across his lips, only a few signs that he was actually concerned about the whole situation. Leo's fingers had momentarily stopped playing with his little mechanism but his constant fidgeting eventually returned, his nimble fingers messing around again.

"So are we supposed to go to Camp Jupiter now or are we still meeting Percy?" Hazel began, stirring the group out of their silence after Nico's eventful bathroom trip. "I mean, you did ditch him for a whole month."

"It was only two and a half weeks, no where near three weeks," Nico grumbled, "but I think maybe we should leave to meet him in front of the apartment building to explain what happened in person, then we can leave for Camp Jupiter. We won't get there until tomorrow then but it'll be okay if they talk about it, seeing as Reyna can tell us if they catch on." The rest of the group seemed to agree with the idea, though only Will seemed to express it, humming in response before sipping on Nico's caramel coffee. Nico shot him a glare out of the corner of his eye which Will merely grinned at.

Leo was unsure how they weren't dating yet.

"We should probably leave," Nico decided. He stood up and let his chair scrape behind him along the patterned stone floors of the café. "I have a feeling that Percy will show up ten minutes early then then decide that we're late if we show up at the actual time." The others followed Nico silently, not that they didn't want to meet him. In fact, they were all ecstatic to see the him again.

And even though none of them had shown any expression to the others, they all knew everyone else was just as excited.

A/N

hey it's a bit late sorry -holidays started yesterday and i've been really busy with exams.

i apologise for the time breaks between scenes on the last chapter. i have absolutely no clue what happened but when i uploaded it the breaks disappeared. after a bit of work i finally figured out how to get it to work. sorry again guys :/ (this is for that one person who reviewed too, if you hadn't told me i wouldn't have noticed so thank you!)

hopefully i will be able to update a little faster soon but i've decided to start writing something else which is being posted on wattpad (i cannot confirm whether it will later be posted on here or not) but i need to get at least ten chapters of that done in the next four weeks so i'm prepared for when i start posting it thus slow chapters even during holidays

i think that's all for now and i hope that to all of you others experiencing the cold right now that you can keep warm (i'm certainly struggling!)

all reviews, follows and favourites are really appreciated guys xx

 _sweettppea_


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